Activists of the Mahendratanaya Bachao Andolan (MBA) and the Ranshtriya Odia Yuvak Pratishthan (ROYP) have decided to gherao the residence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik if State government failed to expedite work on two barrage-based irrigation projects of the Mahendratanaya river in Gajapati district by November 15.
The two projects are yet to materialise, although their foundation stones were laid by Odisha CM eight years ago. “This states the real interest of the Odisha government towards utilisation of the river water in the State although it is now making much hue and cry over tussle with Chhatisgarh regarding use of Mahanadi river”, said ROYP convenor Srikant Padhi. A delegation of the ROYP and the MBA met the executive engineer of Chikiti irrigation division, Dhirendra Da,s on Wednesday to enquire about progress of the projects. It was revealed that in last eight years only 30 per cent work of one barrage had been completed, while work on the other barrage is yet to start. On Thursday, the ROYP submitted a memorandum to the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) southern range on the issue.
Following a tussle over use of water of the river with Andhra Pradesh, the Odisha government had taken a decision to construct these two barrages in Gajapati district. The Odisha government had alleged that the Andhra government had violated the 1962 inter-State agreement by taking up an irrigation project at Meliaput in Srikakulam district. The foundation stone had been laid by the then Andhra Chief Minister on April 30, 2008. This Andhra project had faced protest in Odisha with apprehension that it would affect the life of people living in Gajapati and Rayagada districts.
The Odisha government had decided to construct two barrages on the river near Dambapur and Champapur villages of Gajapati district at distance of around 40 km from the Andhra Pradesh border. The Odisha Chief Minister had laid foundation stones for the proposed projects at Dambapur on April 30, 2008. Initially project cost was Rs 38 crore and the barrages were to be completed in two years. They were to irrigate 3,050 hectares of land besides providing water to Paralakhemundi, the district headquarter town of Gajapati. “In April 2013, Odisha government through an affidavit in the Odisha High Court had again claimed that both these proposed barrages on Mahendratanaya would be completed by end of 2013, which has not happened,” Mr Padhi said.
It has now been revealed that the Irrigation Department has found that location of Champapur barrage was not suitable.
